Tag Archives: Marketing

How to Pick a Strong Social Media Consultant

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So there have been so many people I have met lately who claim to do “Social Media Consulting” that I thought it was a good time to refresh your memory about how to pick a strong Social Media Consultant. So whether you use “Orange SMS Consulting” or someone else you need to make sure you are picking the right one.


Beth Harte and Geoff Livingston wrote a blog  titled “25 Signs You’ve Got a Strong SM Consultant or Agency” So we will be going over these signs this week 5 at a time:

One of the things they say in this blog that is worth repeating on day one is “…Social media communications is still a really new industry, and there are no silver bullet experts or methodologies.” Even today it is still a relatively new industry even 2 years after this blog was written in 2009. These qualifiers are still relevant and if you are missing many of these with your potential partner then you should have a few red flags pop up.

OK, and on we go:

“1. Believes in the generous web and practices cross-linking in their blog.”  

This means that they share other practices such as marketing and other web campaigns in their blogs as part of an overall strategy regarding Social Media.

“2. Highlights others’ work in their blog.”  

A great example of this is Chris Brogan’s Blog who I quote quite often. I am a strong advocate of his book “Trust Agents”. I met Chris and he is a genuine person and SM advocate.  Another quick thought on this topic is that most true SM Consultants don’t look at others’ as competitors, if they are doing it right, but rather a team effort to make sure SM (Social Media) is being delivered in the right way and with the right value add to the audience.

“3. Integrates social media as part of larger marketing strategies”

This is becoming more important for larger and smaller organizations. It can’t be one or the other it needs to be part of an overall strategy. The original blog uses Razorfish as an example of this.  Most strong SM Consultants have partners that can create larger marketing strategies or help connect SM to an already dynamic marketing strategy that the organization currently has.

“4. Doesn’t pretend to be an expert in all things digital; instead focuses on what he/she/they do best.”

A good example of this is Barbara Giamanco as She incorporates social media for sales.

“5. Gives away best practices in an effort to educate, grow social media in general”

Anyone not providing best practices as part of their blog or conversation is probably not a Strong Social Media Consultant.

This is the first 5 of 25 so come  back tomorrow to see the next 5.

I am not against consultants making a living, and by the way I am one, but make sure you pick the best one for your organization. It is usually the Consultant that you have built a relationship with and Trust!

Les Adkins, CEO

Orange SMS Consulting

Social Media Can Be Effectively Outsourced to a PR firm.

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So Happy Friday! We come to our last lie of the week regarding Social Media Marketing. “Social media can be effectively outsourced to a PR firm.” Now this one is a little tricky. I do believe that you can have the implementation outsourced but you need to keep the strategy and development internal. Here is what Mikal E. Belicove “The Daily Dose” has to say.

“Nobody knows your business like the people who work inside your building. You can certainly work with an agency to set up and implement your social media-related efforts or to propose ideas for contests and the like. But when it comes to communicating your messages on a daily basis, your people are in the best position to keep your community of customers and prospects up to date and informed about what really matters to them.” Belicove

At Orange SMS we work like this. We put a consultant in your organization and either work with your current team or build a social media team around that person. The goal is to keep the social media efforts internal. Meaning the posts and the information comes from within the organization. Our goal is to work ourselves out of a job, so to speak. To build a strong strategic oriented team within the organization so they don’t need the consultant any longer.

Now don’t get me wrong we are happy to stay as long as they want us to and to consult when needed but the goal is to have all social media come from within.

What we are finding is there are a lot of organizations doing social media but without any real strategy and that is where the help is needed. So whether you work with us or some other consultant just make sure that the messages, the definition of the audience, the objectives and the strategy are being worked on by a team from within the organization as well.

I tell clients to make sure that any post not written or created by the organization has a caveat of “on behalf of….” in order to keep the transparency rule alive.

So bottom line  I will once again quote Mikal Belicove “In my view there is no ‘one way’ to manage your online positioning using social media. Instead, each company’s marketing strategy should differ depending on specific goals and target audiences.” I agree 100%!

Review of the week (Boy this is too long!)

“Five Lies About Social Media Marketing”

1. Size Matters

2. The medium is the message.

3. Social media gurus really do exist.

4. Social media is ‘new’ media. (remember I had a problem with this one)

5. Social media can be effectively outsourced to a PR firm.

Have a great weekend!

CEO Orange SMS Consulting

les.adkins@mysylbert.com

Social Media is ‘new’ media.

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OK so this one I have to tell you I somewhat disagree with and I’ll explain why in a minute.  But in keeping with the spirit of transparency “The Daily Dose” by Mikal E. Belicove stated the #4 Lie of Social Media Marketing is:

“Social Media is ‘new’ media. No, it isn’t. Media is media. At one point or another, newspapers, radio, television and the Internet were considered new forms of media and now their labeled ‘traditional’ media. So ‘new’ media doesn’t mean that only ‘experts’ or young hotshots can successfully operate your social-media team. That’s hogwash. Nothing replaces knowledge of the basics of marketing, combined with the knowledge of your business-related goals and the need for authenticity and transparency in your socially laden communications.” Belicove

OK so that is what Mikal Belicove has to say. I agree with parts and others I adamantly disagree with. First what I agree with.

I do agree that someone with “…knowledge of your business-related goals…” should run your social media efforts. This can be an Executive who knows how to manage those “young hotshots” Mikal is talking about.

I also agree about needing someone who understands”…the need for authenticity and transparency…”

Now for the things that I disagree with.

First let me tell you my background. I have worked in Television as a director and as an advertising sales executive. My undergrad is in Broadcast Production. I have also run multi-million dollar ad campaigns for organizations and last but not least have been in radio as an ad sales exec. Why do you need to know this? Because of what I’m getting ready to say next.

I believe that Social Media is different from other media. Why because of how it works. “…newspapers, radio, television and the Internet…” is a broadcast media that talks at their customers. Social media is a media that is only truly successful with dialogue. It’s about the conversation! Having one!

Also you can do a short marketing campaign in newspaper, radio, television and the Internet, but in social media, once you begin using it you need to continue using it to communicate to your vendors, prospects, customers and employees. And let them communicate with you. If you disappear from social media you lose trust and credibility.

Here is the hard one for most businesses; you need to build trust in the community by adding value to your community for “Free”. Internet marketers know the value of this and it is even more pure in social media as you need to give this value without expecting the community to buy from you. OUCH! Every marketing person is tearing their eyes out right now and trying to figure out how to find me.

Bottom line is that Social Media is a different media than has ever existed before and the rules are different from other media marketing. So no matter what you call it you need to know your business and build an overall strategy using social with other forms of marketing efforts. If you don’t believe me look at Coca Cola and how much they don’t spend on traditional marketing and how much they have invested in social media marketing. Also look at the differences between those two campaigns.

Sorry Mikal it is different and it is not the same as ‘traditional media’ and never will be! Les Adkins, CEO Orange SMS

Social Media Gurus Really Do Exist.

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Continuing on with our “5 Lies of Social Media Marketing” from “The Daily Dose” by Mikal E. Belicove.

Number 3: I love this one by the way and all my colleagues and I discuss this quite often.

The answer to the question, Do Social Media Gurus Really Exist is “NO ,they don’t. Here’s my advice when you run across someone positioning himself or herself as a ‘social media guru’ or expert” (Remember an expert is a drip under pressure) “Run for the exit. Everybody working in this field is practicing on the job training. Just because they’ve written a book like I have or spoken in public about the do’s and don’ts of social media, doesn’t mean they know your business and how to conceptualize and manage campaigns that hit upon your business related goals.” Belicove

I love this, absolutely love this. I tell this to people all the time. I personally have been introduced as a social media “guru” and “expert” and I always begin by stating that there is no such thing. This new way to communicate is changing so rapidly that no one can know everything about social media even those of us in the industry. So I agree if someone claims to be an expert run, don’t walk, in the opposite direction.

Today I was at an appointment and we were discussing this topic and although I have said it in the past I need to repeat it here. If a company that has a platform is touting that they know social media (and they may do a great job) at the end of the day they are trying to sell you their platform. There now, I’ve made every technology company who is selling a social media platform mad at me. Happy? The things I do for you!

I totally agree that the company, or so-called guru, does not know your business and social media has to come from within. When I speak to, or work with, companies the goal is to develop an internal team that learns to use social media in a strategic way for the organization. I or one of my consultants acts as a catalyst to build that team around until they can strategically do the process themselves.

There is a methodology we use called POST

P eople

O bjective

S trategy

T echnology

This methodology was created by Forrester Research and can be found in the book “Groundswell” by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

You’ll notice that Technology is last and People are first. Only you can decide who your people and objectives organizationally are. We can help you with creating a strategy but you need to implement that strategy consistently from within.

So remember you can’t throw a rock without hitting someone who claims to “do social media”, (wasn’t that way when I first started) but if they claim to be an expert RUN…….Les Adkins – CEO Orange SMS

Third Step – To Create a Social Media Strategy

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So you have decided on your audience and asked the question “Who is your Audience?”.  You have decided on your Objective, what you want your audience to do and now what. Well you have the information you need to move to the next step. Keep in mind that the first two steps take a little bit of time. You may have never asked yourself “Who is your Audience” or “What is your Objective”. So even if you do not desire to have a Social Media Strategy the first two questions are great ones to find out when you are in business. You would be surprised at how many businesses struggle with those two questions. But that, as I said previously, is for another series of blogs.

So now you need to decide where to put your message, right (No sorry that is Wrong). This is where people get bogged down. They think they have all the information to move forward, but not quite yet. This is one of the most important steps. It is the step where you decide how you are going to become a  “Trust Agent” (If you haven’t read the book by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith you need to.)  We will spend some time on this in the next few weeks, but if you get the book you will be ahead of the curve.

The third step to creating a Social Media Strategy is to decide on your Strategy. You need to ask yourself another question. How are you going to fulfill your objective to meet your audience needs? You need to have a map and that is your strategy. This is how you become a Trust Agent to your audience. Don’t make the mistake of so many and begin selling your wares, whatever they are, before you build the trust. This is just one part of the strategy. So for those of you who want a very detailed definition of “Business Strategy” please follow the link by clicking on Business Strategy.  For this blog we are going to use a much simpler definition.

Alternative chosen to make happen a desired future, such as achievement of a goal or solution to a problem.
When we talk about strategy I have narrowed it down to a very black and white statement.
What will be different when you are done? What will success look like to you?
If you can keep those questions in mind you will be able to narrow your strategy to an achievable action of time, resources and effort. The strategy that you decide on is as important as the first two steps. It will guide you on what communities to join and become part of the conversation, it will help you with your messaging, and it will keep your messaging consistent throughout your entire Social Media Strategy.
For some reason this step is a hard one for most. It is the step that people spend the least amount of time, but it should be the one that you spend the most time on. Coming up with a great strategy will help you succeed in the least amount of time. Remember that Social Media success goes to the Tortoise not the Hare. (If you don’t know the Tortoise and the Hare story ask your parents or your kids or what the heck click on the link).
Here are  a few hints to help you start developing your strategy (Remember it is a Social Media Strategy)
  1. Research where your audience is spending their time in social media.
  2. Ask colleagues and customers what social media sites they use and more importantly which ones they count on for good information.
  3. Start keeping a record of the answers you receive from the above.
  4. Set up a “listening station” See “Listening Station” for step by step details.
  5. Don’t develop the strategy on your own,  have a team or colleagues help you.

(These are just a few ideas to help you get started. You can go as deep as a SWOT analysis if you want.)

There is only one more step so stay tuned.

Les Adkins, Founder and CEO of Orange SMS

Redeem and Revise Broken Promises – Social Media “Get it Right”

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So I haven’t blogged in quite a while and for that, my colleagues would be very disappointed. I don’t know if you have heard but there seems to be a trend happening where blogging is going back to the professional bloggers. So in order to be a ‘professional blogger’ you need to blog on a regular basis. Not sure if I buy this trend or not because I have several clients who are currently blogging on a regular basis who would be considered amateur but we are working on that.

Life get’s in the way and believe me I understand this more than most. So what next? Well the first thing I am going to do is make good on a few subjects that I had mentioned I would blog about and haven’t yet. Those are:

  • Social Media Bubble: Fact or Fiction
  • Steps to build a Social Media Strategy
  • Why is Social Media different from Marketing?
  • Why your PR and Marketing Message won’t work as a Social Media Post, Well not at first.

So tomorrow my Blog will be about “Social Media Bubble: Fact or Fiction”

Since I promised those that follow me and belong to my Business page on FB that I would redeem myself from the takeover of Marketers on my page trying to sell them a product while I was absent below is step 1 for anyone starting a Social Media Strategy.

Develop a Listening Station For FREE:

Listening Station:

Set up a Gmail account if you don’t already have one

Go to www.google.com/reader. This will become your listening station

Go to www.technorati.com Type your name in quotes into the search bar.

When the results page comes up, right-click on the little orange RSS button

Go back to Google Reader, click the blue plus button (+) and paste or use CTRL V for Windows, CMD V for MAC.

Repeat these steps for as many different terms as you might want to search for (your company, keywords, and competitors)

Go to http://blogsearch.google.com and do the same searches.

Go to http://search.twitter.com and do the same searches.

Go to http://youtube.com and do the same searches

Google Reader allows you to build folders. (resource from Trust Agent by Chris Brogan)

I am back and boy am I…. well you know. It amazes me what is getting out there about social media marketing. And the nerve of marketers to sell unwanted product on another companies FB page. You gotta love the fact that online, people can still act like the wild, wild west.

Well this blogger is back and on a mission. Talk to you soon!

“In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act” – George Orwell

Les Adkins, CEO Orange SMS

Stay Tuned for MySylbert Community Coming Soon!

Is Social Media a Numbers Game?

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Well I just got finished writing this email to a gentleman in one of the communities that I created and I am a member of. Here is the email verbatim.

xxxx, so let me ask you. Do you think that Social Media is about broadcasting emails in communities offering your services? Owning a social media company where we look at the whole organization, including marketing, don’t you think it is more about building the relationship and becoming a trust agent. What have you given me other than your website to let me know that I should trust you.

Tried not to do it the first time you sent this out but I had to this time. Social Media is about the conversation and building trust, not just a numbers game.

So here is my philosophy on Social Media Marketing:

I believe you can use Social Media to grow your business and increase the number of people in your network through building trust and adding value to their lives by informative blogs and posts, and joining their conversations. As someone in the 100 day focus group said ‘building relationships’.

So what happens when you go to a community and tout your wares? Well depending on the offer you may get 5 to 10 to 20 to accept your offer and possibly even buy your product if you send the message out to 100 people. But let’s say 5 accept your offer and you claim them now as prospects or customers. What about the other 95? You have alienated them, pissed them off and they are now on other communities warning people about you and your company. OK so 95 is a lot of people to alienate. Let’s say you alienated 1/2, around 47 and the other 47 don’t care one way or another. They just ignore you and move on.  Is this a smart business move?

So yes you may get some sales but wouldn’t you rather have a customer for life who trusts and believes in you because of the relationship you built on-line? And what about those other 47 if they see you again and someone asks, do you think they will refer people to your business? I’m not so sure. Actually I believe strongly that they won’t.

My personal belief is that I would rather have all 100, ok so let’s say 50, develop a relationship with me or at least feel like they benefited from the information I provided and then reach out to me to learn more. Or better yet ask their permission to show them an opportunity in a non threatening manner.  The other 50 will remember me in a good way if they see me again, and if I repeat the process of building relationships and adding value.

So in my method you gain 100 new prospects who will refer you to their friends or worst case scenario you gain 5,10 or 20 new customers and  95, based on only getting 5 customers, connections who will not speak poorly of you or your business and you have the option to gain their business one day, or have them refer you and your business to a friend.

So although businesses I have worked with have seen the results above, I am putting this to the test. We have started a 100 day project with a group of 6 people to see if someone who is new to Social Media can gain a solid network and revenue from becoming a trust agent and adding value. This is the starting point, building trust. Yes they will be asking people to look at a specific opportunity at some point, but only after they have added value to the community and more importantly the lives of those in the community by sharing free information that will help them.

After the 100 day project I will be sharing the results on this blog and in a book. See, you can talk a little about your company without alienating others.

Have a Happy Fourth of July America! May we begin connecting and finally working as a team to better this Free Country we live in.

Les Adkins, CEO Orange SMS

MySylbert, an online business community coming soon.

Social Media is a time waster! So Why are Large Corporations Using SM?

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So lately when speaking with Chief Marketing Officers and Executives at larger organizations I have heard this statement quite often…”Social Media will take up too much time to do them all”. So why is it the larger corporations are using Social Media. Corporations like Dell, P&G, IBM and many more. I mean isn’t their time just as valuable  as small to mid-size corporations. Oh and then I get the answer that larger organizations can afford to have several people in their marketing department working on Social Media. Well larger corporations are reducing resources in their marketing departments too. Sometimes down to the bare bone, just like small to mid-size companies are having to do in this economy. If they had more resources to manage Social Media  that would mean that the expenditure costs for Social Media would involve using additional human capital which would increase costs and lower productivity right. But that is not the case when you look at the gains and the reduced spending for these organizations or they would not be moving their budgeting dollars to social media.

So why are large companies using social media? Because that is where their customers are.

There are great tools like “listening stations” (Google it if you need more info.) that allow you to manage and post on more than one Social Media community, engage in conversations concerning your organization that you may have been unaware of, and find out what others are saying about you and your organization.  You can also schedule your posts. There are free listening stations and more enhanced listening stations that you can purchase on an enterprise level like Radian 6 and Vocus. No I do not work for either of these companies nor am I relatively attached to one or the other. They are just good examples of what is out there, but there are a lot more and more being developed every day. They are tools that allow you to save time on social media not spend additional time.

So with everything new there is a learning curve but that happens with everything. Think about the first time you worked in an office with a database, or used a prospecting tool like Salesforce. These tools, you were told would save your company time and money. And put that money toward the bottom line. They did or the executives would not have purchased them.

So ask yourself why are companies moving large sums of their marketing budgets to Social Media? Well here are the top 5 reasons:

1.Saves Time

2.Less Up Front Cost

3.Effective tool for speaking directly to their customers and prospects

4. Lower cost of doing business.

5. Quicker way to get new services and products to market.

There seems to be a trend or I like to say a transition period happening right now. Companies know they need to do something new so they are changing their websites. See my blog on the difference between static and dynamic. I see this as a bridge for changing over to Social Media. Change is hard and sometimes painful. But if you don’t change, as the saying goes, you die!

So Social Media is not a time waster! It saves time and money. Yes there is a difference between Social Media and Marketing and that is usually where the problem actually lies. How do you take years of traditional marketing and turn it into a story or information that adds value to human life. You do it with a strategy. Here is the formula:

People = Define your audience. Who do you want to reach?

Objective = Decide your action steps for that audience. What do you want them to do?

Strategy = What will be different when you are done? What will success look like?

Technology = Which is best for you?

Most companies choose FB or Twitter or LinkedIn or a number of other Social Media technologies without knowing who their audience is and without a clear strategy. This is why it is a time waster. Those looking to gain real revenue and customer growth from Social Media have a strategy in place that is consistent across all platforms. That is the missing ingredient.

The next time someone tells you Social Media wastes time you can  A. Direct them to this blog or B. Just smile knowing that you are reaping the benefits of Social Media and they are not. Oh there is a C. Have them Google “Companies using Social Media for B2B”

Les Adkins, CEO of Orange-SMS

MySylbert beta version

Why Social Media, Again? – Think Outside Of The Box

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I recently was going through some of my old boxes and papers. Yes I have been a pack rat, but that is past tense. I have some great people helping me get organized 4 Chicks and A List if you have a list and need something done check them out. But on to the topic.

Why Social Media? You think by now businesses and organizations would realize that this is the way of the future. A way to connect with prospects, customers, employees, volunteers, investors and so on. But lately it seems that businesses are reverting back to the old ways of marketing and prospecting and calling it social media. And some big names are claiming to know the right way to use social media which is disguised as the old marketing, recruiting and communication methods of the past or telling you Social Media doesn’t work in business. Just because you are a big name and lead a large corporation and well established does not mean you know the future. Your kids may be the smartest people in the room.

So I found a piece with an unknown author that I thought I would share with you. The Title is: Think Outside Of the Box; these are a little outdated  but hopefully you will start getting the idea

“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.” Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949.

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

“But what…is it good for?” Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. This device is inherently of no value to us.” Western Union internal memo, 1876

“The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920′s.

“The concept is interesting and well-informed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’; the idea must be feasible.” A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith’s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.

“I’m just glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling on his face and not Gary Cooper.” Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in “Gone With The Wind”.

“A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make.” Response to Debbi Fields’ idea of starting Mrs. Fields Cookies.

So hang in there with me I really want to make this point. Sorry for the lengthy read

“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895

“If I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can’t do this.” Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesive for 3M ” Post It” Notepads.

“So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey we got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.’” Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and HP interested in his and Steve Wozniak’s personal computer.

“Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.” 1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard’s revolutionary rocket work.

“You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your muscles? It can’t be done. It’s just a fact of life. You just have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight training.” Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the “unsolvable” problem by inventing Nautilus.

We are almost done just a few more.

“Drill for oil? You mean drill in the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.” Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.

“Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.” Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

“Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.” Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure deGuerre. French Military

“Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899

“Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.” Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

“The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon.” Sir John Eric Eriksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.

“640K out to be enough for anybody.” Bill Gates, 1981

So thanks for hanging in there. The next time you hear someone say Social Media doesn’t work, or it is not for business, or it’s just a fad remember the quotes above and smile. Go along your way and move forward because maybe they will end up being quoted in the next generation of “Think Outside the Box”.

CEO and founder Social Media Solutions (SMS)

http://www.socialmediasolutions.biz

Social Media – Your Window to the World

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It truly is a global economy. Now you can start a business anywhere in the world and immediately become an international organization. When you are connecting with the world keep in mind that there are cultural differences that you need to be aware of  when doing business internationally. You can find great information in the Field Guide to Business Etiquette.

So why would a blog about Social Media discuss international business and etiquette to doing business in different cultures. Well you see it all has to do with the new way of doing business. On my own Linkedin I have connections from Asia, Europe, Australia, well you get the point.

So it is more important than ever to have dialogue with your connections, employees, prospects and customers. As well as your friends. Last night I gave a presentation on Onboarding for the Workplace Learning Society for TAG (Technology Association of Georgia).  The presentation consisted of the steps regarding Relational Onboarding. I will go into those next week. But the point was that in order to attract digital natives, Generation Y or WE or Millenials, as they are sometimes called, it is important to allow them to make connections within the organization.

This Generation is the largest percent of the workforce this year in 2010. Businesses must provide an atmosphere where Generation WE will be comfortable to connect with others in the organization and also to create a connection with top executives that are providing the direction for the organization. This Generation WE brings with them the digital knowledge and skills that are needed for organizations to be successful in this new Global Economy. They are used to having connections on an international level and also with Social Media have found a platform to dialogue with international colleagues, friends and acquaintances.

Social Media is more than FB, Twitter and Linkedin it is the new communication tool being used by the new workforce. Companies need to welcome this new generation with open arms and in return, this generation will create revenue, new partnerships and provide a ready-made ambassador to the world and Social Media and create immediate and lasting success for the organizations that take the time to “Do it Differently”

Les Adkins, CEO Social Media Solutions (SMS)

http://www.socialmediasolutions.biz